Potential
by Not So Simple
Summary: Neville goes to see his parents during the summer after Voldemort’s return and finds out more about their condition.
1. Gryffindor Bravery and Tumbling Carts

Potential Author: Lauren  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series or anything associated with it. So please don't sue me.  
Summary: Neville goes to see his parents during the summer after Voldemort's return and finds out more about their condition.  
Author's Notes: Well first off I'm just decided to write this fic because after a LONG vacation my muses came back and this is what they wanted to write. I felt it would be best not to argue with them. I'm also using this as a springboard for an original story I plan on writing. This will be multipart story with and have what I consider to be a pretty good involving plot. Please review and tell what's good and bad so I know. Like I said it's been a while since I last wrote something.

~~~~~

Neville walked down the corridors of St. Mungo's again as he always did. But, this time he was alone for his Gran wasn't walking along beside him. She finally agreed to let him come here by himself. She was at home waiting for him. He wanted to see them by himself just because he wanted to talk to his parents on his own for once, without having his Gran intervene during certain points of the conversation.

He was feeling his Gryffindor bravery at the moment, as he walked the halls calmly because he was used to hearing the screams and the babblings of patients from their rooms or as they were being transported in the hallways.

"No, NO!! You're lying. You're a liar! Let me go, I'll be good," screamed a girl that looked a couple years older than him. She was at the other end of the corridor being escorted and magically restrained down the corridor, towards him, by two big looking wizards.

Neville watched as the group approached. Then he and the girl stopped in place as their eyes ocked on one another.

She stopped all of her ramblings and just continued to stare at him with wide eyes. He felt all the Gryffindor bravery leave around the time all his coherent thought, speech, and action left all because of that stare.

Neville was used to the loose of coherentness because of a stare, but it was usually from Professor Snape, Draco Malfoy, and occasionally Gran. He felt an involuntary shiver at the thought of those ice-cold glares they always seemed to aim at him.

He just continued to stare back.

"Leave the nice boy alone, Devona," one of the guards said. He gave Neville an apologetic smile. Neville still couldn't get his body to respond to what his brain was trying to tell his body.

The guard that spoke to the girl gave her a slight nudge in the direction they were heading. She blinked and whatever trance she was in was lost. She continued her ramblings as she continued her walk down the corridor.

Neville felt an unexpected hand on his shoulder. It woke him from his reverie, but it made him give a small shriek and wretch away from the hand that was on his shoulder.

That wrenching action made him fall back into a cart, that was just sitting in the middle of the hallway practically begging Neville to have some kind of accident with, which caused it to tip over and clatter to the ground spilling all of its contents with it.

'Of bloody course this would happen to me. Can't go nowhere without 'causing a disturbance' Neville thought to himself.

"Sorry about that, I'm really sorry, let me help you clean that up," Neville started apologizing and crawling on his knees to the mess on the floor.

"That's ok Neville, I really should be apologizing to you. Startling you and such," said Melinda Carlise a thirty-something year old mediwitch Neville saw practically every time he went to see his parents.

"That's ok Ms. Carlise I'm just a bit on edge. Getting to see my parents and all," Neville felt a blush creep onto his face as he ducked his head so he wouldn't have to look her in the eyes. He hated to see the pity looks most of the mediwitches and mediwizards gave him.

Melinda smiled and offered Neville a hand up, which he took.

"I just wanted to say hello, Neville. Do you want me to come with you?"

"If you don't have anything else to do," Neville politely replied.

"Well let's get going," they walked down the hallways Neville watched her out of the corner of his eyes. He could tell there was some thing bothering her.

Melinda suddenly stopped and grabbed Neville's shoulder to stop him from walking and turned him around so he was facing her. "Neville, before you see them, we thought we should tell you. They seem to be doing worse lately."

"What, what do you mean?" Neville asked. A hundred things started racing through his mind about what could have possibly happened to his parents between now and his last visit. He worried about them, he always did.

"Neville, lately since about mid-June, they started to scream during the middle of the night and having fits throughout the day. Although it is not a daily occurrence it does happen often enough. We're not sure of what's causing this regression.

"But they're not the only ones. Other patients with the same 'diagnosis' as you're parents seem to be showing similar symptoms."

Neville looked at Melinda not sure what to say. But, there was a knot forming in his stomach. 'Mid-June did she say? HE returned on June twenty forth. HIS followers caused their condition in the first place.'

Neville felt the knot tighten and felt quite a few shades paler. 'Did they hear of the news you You-Know-Whose return? Did they believe it?' Neville thought to himself. That lead him to thinking about Harry he wasn't quite the same when he came back after facing off with You-Know-Who. He missed the old Harry, the one who didn't have a perpetually sad face.

"Neville, I'm sorry. The staff thought it was best to tell you. They're in their room right now," Neville could barely hear her over his own thought. "Neville, Neville are you all right?"

"Not quite sure," Neville could feel his heart pound while taking in short shaky breaths.

Melinda was not too sure what she should or shouldn't do for Neville. She felt sorry for the dear. Death Eaters drove his parents insane, when he was just a little boy. Sure there were other children like him, but Neville's clumsiness and innocent face made him so endearing.

"Are you ready to see them?"

After closing his eyes and taking a few breaths he opened his eyes and told her he was.

Giving him a small smile they continued their walk to the Longbottoms' room. They stopped in front of the door when they finally arrived. Neville just stood in front of the door not making a move to open it.

"Are you going in?"

"Of course I am. I'm just getting ready to see them," Neville replied. He took a deep breath and looked at Melinda and said, "I can do this on my own."

Melinda got the hint and wished Neville luck as she turned to walk to some other part of St. Mungo's.

Neville watched her disappear down the hallway. It was time, he felt ready. He gave a forced smile and thought to himself, 'It shouldn't really be that big of a deal. I'm just seeing my parents. Same old, same old. I go in, hey ask who I am. I tell them, I try to convince them that I'm telling the truth, we talk for a bit, I leave, and they forget. It's happened every other time.

'OK time to get that Gryffindor bravery back.' With that going through his head Neville gave a light knock on the door.

"What was that?" said a distinctly female voice.

"Probably a mediwizard. Come in!" said a male.

Neville opened the door and stepped inside the room.

TBC


	2. Fantasies Coming True

Author's Notes: Yay I finally found time to work on and finish another chapter of this story. Sorry if I actually kept people waiting if anyone is actually reading this story, but real life sucks I have so much crap to do lately.  
  
Oh and I'm almost 100% sure that they never mentioned Neville's mother name so I just made up a name I think fits her. If you actually know her name put it in a review or just e-mail it to me.  
  
Also thanks for reviewing SarahEvans12020. You're my only reviewer for this story so thanks a lot. And to comment on your suggestion I can't really say what I'm going to do with the insanity at the moment this early on the game.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 2  
  
There they were, staring at him, "I don't think he's a mediwizard," his mother said.  
  
"Yeah he looks a bit young. Who are you?" asked his father, Frank.  
  
"It's me Neville, your son."  
  
"A son? I don't remember a son. Do you remember a son Frank?" asked Rose as she casted her glance to Frank.  
  
"No, who did you say you were again?"  
  
"Neville, dad. Neville Longbottom."  
  
"You'd think we'd remember if we had a son. Wouldn't we Frank?" asked Rose, giving her husband a look Neville couldn't understand.  
  
"I don't know. We do forget things a lot. Though I do remember seeing before. I think." Frank answered his wife with a confused look upon his face as he tried to remember things his brain wouldn't allow.  
  
"Yeah you do come here a lot. Why?" Rose asked.  
  
"Because you're my parents," answered Neville as if there wasn't anything to question.  
  
"We're not great parents are we?" Rose said not quite meeting Neville's eye out of shame.  
  
"No, no you both did very well, for what you could do." Neville said trying to reassure them.  
  
"Tell us about you. Everything that we don't remember and everything that we missed," Rose said with a sudden amount energy. When Neville looked into his mother's eyes he saw a lucidness that has never been there before in all his visits.  
  
"Yes tell us everything," Frank replied backing up Rose.  
  
"Well like I said before I'm Neville Longbottom and I grew up with both of you in England until I a little older than one year-old. That's when both of you had to be sent to here. After that I was sent to live with Gran." "Is she the lady that usually comes in here to see us with you?" asked Rose.  
  
"Yes," replied Neville with a big grin on face. They were remembering things.  
  
"Why isn't she here now?" Frank asked.  
  
"I wanted to see you both by myself."  
  
"Tell us about you. The now you." Rose asked with a huge smile on her face.  
  
"At the end of summer I'm going to be a fifth year Gryffindor at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Uncle Algy gave me my toad Trevor for getting accepted to Hogwarts. But Trevor always manages to get lost. I'm actually pretty good at Herbology, but not at Potions. The Potions Master and head of the Syltherin house, Professor Snape hates me and all Gryffindors, but he especially hates me. It's because I'm not at all talented at Potions. I usually can accomplish blowing things up or if I actually do make a potion it's not the right one."  
  
Neville was amazed, this was the most his parents ever really concentrated on him and didn't seem to daze off into their own insanity. He was pretty sure they didn't have a clue of what he was talking about, but all the same they were actually listening.  
  
"Is that all you do?" asked Rose.  
  
"Well during the holidays I go and live with Gran."  
  
"Gran?" asked Frank.  
  
"The lady I usually come here with," Neville replied a bit disheartened that they forgot something already. But after looking at them they actually looked like they were trying to remember who she was.  
  
"Knock, knock," said a very cheerful mediwitch as she slowly opened the door and breaking whatever concentration Neville's parents had.  
  
"Time for your potions," she said with a huge smile in an almost unnaturally cheerful voice. "Oh hello Neville, how are you?"  
  
"I'm fine Miss Franklin, thank you. How are you? Oh and I'm really sorry about the cart. There was this thing and I got surprised and I turned around and,-"  
  
"Don't worry about it Neville, dear. It's all taken care of. Thank Merlin we aren't Muggles. Imagine doing trying to do all that work the Muggle way." Said Miss Blythe Franklin cutting in on Neville.  
  
"Yes I imagine it would be hard," Neville replied.  
  
"Well here you are, Frank, Rose."  
  
Neville watched as his parents took the potions.  
  
"Such good patients you are. Well see you both later," replied Miss Franklin. The getting close to Neville and talking to him in a way only he could hear she said, "Oh dear I hope you doing alright Neville, and try not to worry too much about them. We'll take the best care of them. Bye Neville." Then she headed for the door to see the other patients.  
  
Neville continued to just stare happily at his parents.  
  
He felt himself slightly jump when his mother put her hand in his looked into his eyes and said, "We're going to try to be better we promise, Neville."  
  
Frank walked up behind his wife and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and agreed with her sentiments.  
  
Neville couldn't believe it everything was coming together. All his fantasies were just like this. It was pretty much always the same, his parents somehow miraculously coming out of the fog of their insanity and trying to become his parents again.  
  
He loved it.  
  
They all just sat around in comfortable silence for a while learning how to be in each other's company.  
  
Neville was so happy 'Miss Carlise must have been mistaken, or maybe seeing me made them better," he thought. Thoughts similar to those were running through his head.  
  
"Changing, changing. Stop! I don't want to listen to you anymore; in fact I do not need to. So leave me ALONE!!" Rose started yelling into thin air, breaking the comfortable silence. She put her head between her hands while hunching over in her chair.  
  
"What is it mom?" Neville asked frantically from his chair.  
  
"Not here, not there. Where are they? I'll get them to leave us alone Rose," Frank said as he got up and started to look around the room for the invisible, unheard voices that were plaguing them. He was tearing at thing turning over tables making all sorts of noise.  
  
"What's going on here?" cried Miss Franklin as he stepped into the room to investigate the cause of the loud noises. "Oh Merlin! Fearghus, Bo come here quick. The Longbottoms are having a fit again."  
  
Suddenly the two big wizards he saw escorting the girl down the hallway from earlier come bursting through the door and with their wands in hand magically calmed and restrained his parents.  
  
Miss Franklin quickly went over to Neville and knelt down to make eye contact with Neville who was still sitting in a chair, "Neville I'm so sorry you had to see that dear, but we had to do that as quickly as possible before they hurt themselves." Her voice droned on, but Neville couldn't listen to her.  
  
All of the fantasies he had been dreaming about for the past hour had just come crashing down around his head.  
  
His parents weren't going to get better anytime soon, if at all.  
  
TBC 


	3. Patterns

Author's Notes: I know really sorry about the wait, but in school I now have 2 AP classes and 1 honors and that's out of five blocks. I used to work on this story during class when my teacher would spend pretty much the entire block going on about his first aid stories, sadly and thankfully that class is over.  
  
I also have lots of homework now so not enough hours in the day for me.  
  
A big thank you to IndigoStar12020 thanks for reading and reviewing.  
  
*******  
  
"Neville come on we will take you to the common room," he felt Miss Franklin helped him out of his seat and escort him out of the room.  
  
He felt completely numb. He knew things were going on around him but they didn't quite register.  
  
He just sat in a chair staring blankly at his hands, which were resting on his lap. Neville was wondering where things had gone so wrong.  
  
Things were so great like a dream come true. It was his dream come true.  
  
Neville wanted to leave just get out and forget that it happened. 'Just leave,' he told himself. Neville really wanted to in fact he would, if he trusted his legs to work.  
  
He didn't think that his legs could work properly right now, not when his parents just had a breakdown of sorts.  
  
Medi-witches and wizards were trying to talk to him and ask what happened, but he also didn't trust his voice right now.  
  
So he'd just sit there on the chair and stare at his hands or at the floor, it had a nice pattern, and just keep quiet.  
  
"Neville, just please talk to us, tell us what happened. We need to know. If we know it we could help them. Help us, help them," said a woman with a sweet voice, kneeling down next to him. Neville just ignored her.  
  
Thankfully after a while they stopped trying and just left him alone.  
  
Then he heard a voice, "Don't worry they're just lost, they don't mean to be. It's just that bad things are happening and they're casualties of war."  
  
Neville looked up and saw the crazy girl from earlier. The one with the stare. But here she was acting not so much crazy as sense-making in a creepy cryptic way.  
  
"What do you mean?" Neville asked.  
  
"You already know, what I'm talking about," she said looking at him.  
  
"Um, actually no I don't know, if I knew I wouldn't be asking," Neville replied back, wondering what she was talking about. Although he had a good idea about the badness she was talking about. And it involved a certain dark wizard who must not be named.  
  
"It's all being set-up. Ducks in a row to be shot. One by one until they all go down like ashes. Dust in the wind. Of course the blind won't be able to see until then. Can you see?" She was really creeping him out with all the talk about shooting and the fact she was leaning in closer to him as she talked and doing the staring thing that fazed him.  
  
"Can you stop talking in riddles and metaphors? Tell me what this has to do with my parents?"  
  
"You already know." She cocked her head to the side and looked right at him again. "Yes I think you can see. You can see it all, though some people think you to be blind. You can try to stop it, before the whistle blows and it's all over." Neville just stared at her not sure what to do, then she blinked and looked at him again, her eyes seemed more lucid and scared than he thought anybody could ever look, she gripped both his shoulders and said, "You have to tell them, you have to get him back here. It's coming. He's the only one who can defeat him, they're binded together. If he's not here to help stop them then we're all doomed."  
  
"What? Who do I bring and what's this doom?" Neville asked sounding desperate. Oh god it better not be what was racing through his mind.  
  
"Devona! What are you doing here? Please leave Mr. Longbottom alone. Bo, Fearghus please come here Devona is acting up," It was Miss Franklin.  
  
"No Miss Franklin it's ok we were just talking," Neville rushed out, he needed to talk to. Devona yeah that was her name. He needed to figure out if what she was saying wasn't just crazy mutterings.  
  
"Oh bless your sweet heart Neville. You shouldn't have to endure her crazy talk after just witnessing your parents breakdown." Miss Franklin said while Bo and Fearghus were escorting Devona away who seemed to be going quite willingly.  
  
It didn't make sense why would a crazy girl be muttering about being doomed. Although if he played connect the dots he the picture he got was that He Who Must not be Named was back in full force and was planning to continue where he left off. But whom did he need to get? Professor Dumbledore? He was always said to fear Dumbledore. Ugh this was so frustrating how was he supposed to decode a crazy girl's mumblings that was intended to help undoom them all? Why him, why not someone else like Harry, Ron, or Hermione? They were all smart and brave and used to situations like this.  
  
"Neville your Gran is here to take you home," said Ms. Carlise.  
  
TBC 


	4. A Little More

Author's Notes: Well that was a pretty fast update time for me. Well that's partly because I'm on spring break and neglecting my AP homework. Thanks for the reviews everyone (2 people). It helps motivates me to write faster. I wouldn't give up on a story but if I don't feel motivated to work on it then I work on something else.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Oh Neville there you are, I heard what happened. I knew I should have gone with you." Neville heard his Gran go on and on as if somehow she could have prevented their breakdown and the part that Neville hated the most was that maybe she could have prevented it all from happening. There was this little part of his mind that kept on nagging at him that it somehow could have been prevented. If only things happened a little more differently.  
  
He followed Gran as they left St. Mungo's and took a magical cab home. He stared out the window as the cab went through other cars and on the sidewalk. He just kept thinking mainly about two things his parents and the girl. It couldn't be good at all. Things were so bad things aren't supposed to be this bad.  
  
Maybe this was just some weird psychotic dream brought on by too many chocolate frogs. Hmm he should check. OUCH!! Nope this was real and note to self don't pinch arm like that ever again.  
  
Back to the girl, maybe he shouldn't put to much stock into the crazy ramblings of a crazy girl. But at the end she looked so sane like she knew exactly what she was talking about. Then why did she decide to be all cryptic. If she really knew things then she should have known that he wasn't good at these types of things.  
  
********  
  
"No!!!! Please don't hurt me; please I don't even know you. I've never done anything to you. Stop it hurts!" cried a girl with blood dribbling out of the corner of her mouth she was on her ands and knees she had patches of caked blood along her hairline and bruises on her face. She was clutching her side as if it was in pain. She looked young but was older than him maybe late teens early twenties. She had blonde hair and hazel eyes that looked blood shot and had tears in them.  
  
"That's the point. Avada Kedavra." Came from a deep voice covered in billowy black robes, but you could see red eyes peeking out from the hood.  
  
********  
  
Green eyes shot open immediately. Harry lurched up from his bed and his hand went to his scar, which was throbbing. He started to rub it. Partly hoping that it would stop burning and somehow get rid of the images in his head.  
  
He knew from experience it wouldn't, but it didn't' hurt to be an optimist. It happened again. He closed his eyes and took a ragged breath. The dreams, he hated the dreams. Hated Voldemort. He had been having them since mid- July. It was now the last week in August. He's had them at least twice a week.  
  
When he really thought about it they weren't really dreams. They were real, they happened to real people and now they were all dead. He guessed they were more like visions. Harry hated it. Even in the night when he didn't have the visions of strangers dying at the hand of Voldemort he saw Cedric.  
  
He hated that one the most. Everyone that believed told him it wasn't his fault. He felt it was though and every time he replayed it in his head he found something that he could have done differently. Been a little quicker, a little more smarter, a little more greedy.  
  
Harry knew it was useless he couldn't go back in time. Dumbledore already told him no, a Time Turner was an inappropriate way to deal with the situation.  
  
Harry looked over to the journal Dumbledore told him to keep of the visions. He stopped writing in it last week. He was tired of constantly having to replay the visions in his head and having to hear the people's dying pleas and the look in their eyes when they were dead. He shivered a bit when he thought about that girl tonight.  
  
He'd have to wait two more days until he would be back in the wizarding world. He was supposed to meet the Weasleys at Kings Cross Station apparently they already got his school supplies. He was under Voldemort lockdown.  
  
Apparently Diagon Alley was too dangerous along with any place else that wasn't the Dursley's. The Dursleys were surprising not that bad this time. They still didn't like him and still starved him because of Dudley's diet. It was amazing he was still gaining weight even on that diet. They pretty much pretended like he didn't exist but when they had to acknowledge him they didn't give him too many scathing remarks about him or the wizarding world.  
  
Harry wondered what Dumbledore said to them.  
  
Harry was only allowed contact with the wizarding world on his birthday. It was nice they were lots of letters and food delivered to him. All now safely hidden in his spot under the floorboards.  
  
Harry liked and hated this lockdown. The plus side was that he didn't have to worry about people calling him crazy for saying that Voldemort was back and nearly killed him, again, deal with people trying everything to not mention anything about Voldemort in his presence, or having people asking what happened when he and Cedric disappeared after touching the Goblet of Fire.  
  
The bad side was that he couldn't to go to the Weasleys all summer. He wasn't even allowed to owl Hermione or Ron. He hated those things. The Weasleys just had a way about them that was calming to him even when Fred and George were blowing things up. He already during the school year he needed Ron and Hermione, things just weren't the same without them. They just seemed to balance things out. Ron with his carefree joking and 'Mione with her stern kindness.  
  
He felt his heart ache just a little for them.  
  
TBC 


End file.
